Husker Men's BB heads for Charleston Classic

The Nebraska men’s basketball team hits the road for the first time in 2013-14, as the Huskers will head to Charleston, S.C., to compete in the Charleston Classic Presented by Gildan. The four-day, eight-team event features games on Thursday, Friday and Sunday across the ESPN family of networks.

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By Huskers.com

Nebraska City News-Press - Nebraska City, NE

By Huskers.com

Posted Nov. 20, 2013 at 9:53 AM

By Huskers.com
Posted Nov. 20, 2013 at 9:53 AM

The Nebraska men’s basketball team hits the road for the first time in 2013-14, as the Huskers will head to Charleston, S.C., to compete in the Charleston Classic Presented by Gildan. The four-day, eight-team event features games on Thursday, Friday and Sunday across the ESPN family of networks.

Nebraska opens tournament play on Thursday, as the Huskers take on unbeaten Massachusetts at TD Arena beginning at 11:30 a.m. (central). The game will be online on ESPN3.com and on the WatchESPN app with Bob Picozzi and Tim Welsh on the call.

The tournament opener with the Minutemen will also be carried across the state on the 27-station Husker Sports Network with Kent Pavelka and Matt Davison calling all of the action. The game can be heard for free on Huskers.com and is available on the Huskers’ app on iOS or android devices.

The Huskers will be tested during the four-day event, as the four teams on the Huskers’ side of the bracket are a combined 11-0 entering this week’s action. In addition to the 3-0 Huskers, New Mexico is 2-0 and ranked 19th in this week’s AP poll, UMass is 3-0 and receiving votes in the national polls and UAB is also 3-0 to start the season. The Huskers will play either New Mexico or UAB on Friday, depending on Thursday’s results. The other side of the bracket consists of Clemson, Davidson,Georgia and Temple.

UMass will be a difficult test in the tournament opener, as the Minutemen already boast wins over Boston College and LSU and are coming off an 85-69 win over Youngstown State on Sunday. The Minutemen returned three starters from a team that won 21 games and went to the NIT in 2013, highlighted by senior point guard Chaz Williams (21.0 ppg, 8.0 apg).

The Huskers wrapped up its three-game homestand with an 83-57 win over South Carolina State on Sunday. Nebraska regained the services of guards Ray Gallegos and Deverell Biggs after both players missed the first two games of the season. The duo both came off the bench, combining for 35 points. Gallegos had a game-high 18 points, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range, while Biggs had 17 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists in his Husker debut. NU’s 83 points was its second-highest total in Tim Miles’ two seasons at NU.

Nebraska’s much-improved depth has been evident early on, as the Huskers got 51 points from the bench. Junior college transfer Leslee Smith added 12 points and seven rebounds on Sunday to join Gallegos and Biggs in double figures. In all, NU put five players in double figures.